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Thursday, January 17, 2013

The predicament of womanhood

"To me it seems a very terrible thing to be a woman. There is one crown which perhaps is worth it all - a great love, a quiet home, and children. We all know that is all that is worthwhile, and we must peg away, showing off our wares on the market if we have money, or manufacturing careers for ourselves if we haven't. We have not the motive to prepare ourselves for a 'lifework' of teaching, of social work - we know that we would lay it down with hallelujah in the height of our success, to make a home for the right man. And all the time in the background of our consciousness rings the warning that perhaps the right man will never come. A great love is given to very few. Perhaps this makeshift time-filler of a job is our lifework after all."

(Written by Ruth Benedict, one of the first women to be recognized as a major social scientist)

For the past two years the single most popular post on my blog has been Starbucks in Cape Town . If you google "Starbucks" and &qu...

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